Linear Elamite Inscriptions and Related Cuneiform Texts. I. Linear Elamite Texts from Susa

This volume, the first of a projected three-part publication, presents a critical edition of all nineteen Linear Elamite inscriptions from Susa, together with the related cuneiform texts. Building on the decipherment published by the authors in 2022, it combines epigraphic, philological, archaeological, linguistic, and historical evidence to reassess one of the earliest writing traditions of the Iranian Plateau. The introductory chapter situates Linear Elamite within the development of writing from Proto-Elamite practices and classifies the forty-five inscriptions currently known into seven geo-chronological groups. It also outlines the alpha-syllabic writing system: seventy-one deciphered signs account for nearly 97 per cent of all sign occurrences, while no logograms have been securely identified. The textual editions distinguish inscriptions unrelated to Puzur-Sušinak from those commissioned by the late twenty-second-century BCE ruler. Several of the earlier Susian texts predate the Akkadian occupation of Susa around 2300 BCE and retain signs connected with Proto-Elamite, supporting the possibility of a gradual transition between the two scripts; a school tablet may preserve an early attempt to arrange sign values systematically. The inscriptions of Puzur-Sušinak, examined alongside their Akkadian counterparts, reveal deliberate bilingualism and digraphia, while their titulary illuminates the ruler’s political trajectory from governor of Susa to king of Awan. Through normalized copies, transliterations, transcriptions, translations, photographs, and detailed commentary, the volume establishes Linear Elamite as a durable and geographically differentiated tradition central to the history of literacy, political authority, and cultural interaction in ancient Iran.